Darkwing

Darkwing

Author: Kenneth Oppel

Publisher:  Harper Collins

Place and year of publication: 2007 Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Number of pages: 328

Where you found the book: CHS library 

Review

Dusk has always been different. His sails are fur less, his ears are oddly shaped, his legs are skinny and weak, and he can see in the dark.. Chiropters are meant for gliding, but Dusk has wanted to flap his sails ever since he was a newborn. If Dusk flaps, he may be shunned and driven out from the colony. So he must glide and keep his secret desires to himself. But when a carnivorous ground dweller tries to attack him, Dusk flaps. Now that his secret is out he may be out casted forever.

Carnassial is a felid. He is the best saurian hunter in Patrofelis’ colony. He will become the next leader after Patrofelis dies. But when he tastes meat for the first time he can’t get enough. He starts hunting his fellow beasts and he is soon expelled from his colony. But it turns out that Carnassial is not the only one with this taste for flesh. Many other felids join him and he makes a new colony.

Carnassials colony crosses over to the island, where Dusk’s family lives. The sequoia tree Dusk lives in is perfect for the felids. Since it is inhabited by the chiropters, Carnassial must drive them out, and get a good meal while doing it.

Christian Perspective

This book was not written in a Christian perspective. There is lots of killing. They could have settled their differences in a different way. A good thing they did was look out for their family and Carnassial stood up for his beliefs. Dusk could have prayed when his colony couldn't find a home.

My Thoughts

I really enjoyed this book. I read this book because I have read another book in the series and I like fantasy books. It was really suspenseful and exiting. I recomend this book to anyone who likes fantasy or suspenful books

Paris' Book Review

Harry Houdini

Author: Vicki Cobb

Publisher: Dorling Kindersley 

Place and year of publication: Canada August 1 2005

Number of pages: 128

Where I found the book; School library 

Summery 

Harry Houdini's real name was Ehrich Weiss. He was born on March 24th 1874. He came from a very poor family. When he was 12 years old, he preformed in a "dime museum." A dime museum is a place were you could go and pay very little to watch people preform. When he was just starting out, he did simple coin tricks. He met a girl named Bess. Erich and Bess preformed together. Ehrich's hero was Robert Houdin. Robert was a very famous french magician. One of Ehrich's  friends sugested that Ehrich name himself after Robert Houdin. Harry is the English translation of the name Ehrich and Houdini means "Like Houdin" in french.

After preforming in dime museums for a long time, a European agent came and asked Houdini to preform in Europe with him. When he was on his way to Europe, he studied alot of Robert Houdin's tricks. He became very skilled in lock picking. He trained himself to be flexible so he could pick locks on his hands with his toes. He trained himself to hold his breath underwater for long periods of time so he could do water escapes. One of his greatest escapes was from England's strongest prison. He was searched and he had no picks on him. Then he was put in a cell with nothing in it. A little while later, Houdini came out of the jail cell. This escape gained him lots of publicity. He became very famous in Europe and England. Soon, he went to America to preform there. he preformed many great tricks. He became very rich and he sent most of his money home to his mother. He later became the president of the SAM (Society of American Magicians).

Harry Houdini preformed many dangerous tricks. These included: Escaping from a sealed milk can filled with water, Being buried alive, escaping from straightjackets underwater, and many more. He also made many movies, but he stopped that because his acting skills were poor. He became the first man to fly a plane in Australia.

On October 31 1926, Houdini died of a ruptured appendix. A few days before, a student asked him if his stomach was hard enough to withstand any punch. Houdini said it was. Before Houdini was ready, the student punched him right were his appendix was. Houdini refused to get medical attention. 

The book is called Harry Houdini because it is all about Harry Houdini. 

Christian Perspective

Houdini was born in a Christian home, but he never really showed that he believed in God. I dont think this book was written in a Christian perspective. 

Houdini never thanked God for giving him the ability to preform in Europe and America. He could have thanked God  for letting him preform and for giving him the skills to pick locks. He could have prayed that all his performances would go well. He could have also prayed that his appendicitis would get better.

My Thoughts 

I picked this book because I had to do a Biography, and this one seamed the most interesting. I dont really like biographys, but this one was kind of interesting. I liked learning about all the tricks Houdini did. I found it interesting how he started out poor and became rich. The author did a great job describing all that Houdini did. I recomend this book to anyone who wants to learn about Houdini or is interested in magic tricks because that is what the book is all about.

Half-Brother

Half-Brother

Author: Keneth Opppel

Publisher: The Random house group

Place and year of publification: British Columbia 2010

Number of pages: 384

Where I found the book: Public library

 Review

Ben wan an only child until his parents brought home an 8-month old chimpanzee named Zan. Bens parents were scientists. They bought Zan from a zoo to see if they could learn language. Since chimps cannot speak, they taught him American sign language.

 Soon, they government lost interest in Project Zan and they cut the funding. Zan was growing much too big and much too strong to stay with Ben and his family. So, they had no choice but to sell Zan to a chimp ranch. 

Soon Ben  and his family see that Zan is not safe there. They realize they have to get Zan back somehow. The ranch owner refuses to let them buy Zan back. They see that the only way to get Zan back is to steal him.

Christian Perspective

I dont think this book was written in a Christian perspective because they didnt pray when they could have. They could have prayed for the Government to keep funding the project

or they could have prayed for the money. Also once in the book they try and steal Zan and that is no what a Christian should do. They could have prayed that the chimp ranch owner would let them buy Zan back.

My Thoughts

I really liked this book. I did because I liked animals and I like the author. It has a very good story line. It is funny in some parts. It is sometimes suspenseful and you dont know what is going to happen next. I recomend this book to anyone who likes animals because it is about chimps. 

 

Paris Convincing Paragraph

Convincing Paragraph

By Paris

Of course knowledge of nature is definitely the most important component of surviving alone. It is because if you know how fire works, you can make a fire. If you know what wood is best, and how to get it, then you could make the tools you need. For example if Brian knew about moose and when they are most aggressive, he would know when to be careful and he wouldn’t  have gotten thrown in the lake and have his ribs hurt. Also, if chuck knew how to purify water, he wouldn’t have had to drink coconut milk for 4 years.

City of Stars

City Of Stars

Author: Mary Hoffman

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Place and year of publication: Great Brittan in 2003

Number of pages: 553

Where I found the book: Brandon Public Library

Book Review

Georgia is a 15 year old girl who loves horses. Her mother got remarried and she hates her mean stepbrother, Russell.

Georgia buys a little glass winged horse from an antique shop. What she doesn’t know is that has the power to take her to a whole different time. One night the horse takes her to 16^th century Remora where Cesares favorite horse, Starlite, gives birth to a little black winged horse.

In Remora horse racing is a big deal. And everyone knows that a winged horse is the fastest of all horses. And since a winged horse only is born every 100 years everyone wants to get their hands on black winged horse, who they named “Merla” which means “Blackbird”. Now Cesare and Georgia must protect Merla and train her for the big race.

The title “City of Stars” refers to Remora which has lots of lights. Remorian people also depend on the stars to show them the way.

Christian Perspective

I don’t think this book is a Christian book because there is lots of fighting and people keep trying to steal Merla. I think they could have dealt with problems a better way. The author, Mary Hoffman, is a Christian but I don’t think the book is. One person in the book is a Christian but he is not a main character. He is Mr. Goldsmith and he is the one who sells Georgia the glass horse. If the book were a Christian book they would pray that nothing would happen to Merla. They would also pray that Merla would be strong enough to win the race.

My thoughts

I really liked this book. I chose it because I love horses and fantasy and this has both! The book did get a little boring sometimes, but only before something big happened. This was a very good book. It was suspenseful and thrilling, but it was also happy and had some relaxing parts as well. I could really picture everything in the book. The author did a good job at describing everything. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes fantasy, animals, and long books.

Paris' Spelling Word Story

Spelling Word Story

By Paris

A symphony player became possessive of her teriyaki quesadilla. The maestro was getting a synopsis on a book when this happened. When the maestro got back he told the symphony player to cite the graffiti on the wall. She asked how it would be beneficial to her, when she said that the maestro told her to clean the ceramics too. When she asked why she was receiving discipline, the maestro said “no teriyaki quesadillas allowed!” so the maestro told her to clean the ceramic hacienda. She was reluctant to, so she drove a galleon to a terrestrial land. There she had caffeine drinks and lots of teriyaki quesadillas. On that land she found out her family heirloom was a vacuum frozen in a glacier. She drove the galleon back to the pavilion in her home town with her family heirloom. She then got arrested by the colonel for driving a galleon without a licence. Now she is in jail. The moral of the story is: never get possessive over your teriyaki quesadilla.

Firewing

FireWing

By Kenneth Oppel

Published by Harper Trophy Canada

Published in Ontario, Canada in 2002

285 pages

I found this book in the school library

Story Review

Griffin is a young silver wing bat. He and his friend Luna try and steal fire and there is an accident. After, Griffin gets sucked down into the underworld. Now Shade, Griffins father, has to save him. But something else is trying to find Griffin, something Shade hoped he would never see again...

Shade meets Yorick, Nemo, and Java, three bats that he meets in the underworld who are trying to get to the tree – a magical tree in the underworld that gives life to whoever enters it, but they don’t know if it even exists…

Legend says that the living can’t survive long in the underworld and since griffin glows with life (literally) and all the dead bats want to take it for themselves. Can Griffin and Shade make it back to the upper world or will a deadly foe take their life first?

The title of the book, FireWing, has to do with Griffin and Luna stealing fire and the accident.

Christian Perspective

This book was not written in a Christian perspective. But most of the characters dealt with situations somewhat Christ-like. When the accident happened – if they were Christians- they could have prayed. There were lots of times where they could have prayed. Some bats attacked others because of their beliefs. Instead of fighting they should have respected each other’s beliefs.

My Thoughts

I loved this book. It was suspenseful, thrilling, and it also has nice, calm parts. It had great description and you could see everything well. I liked the way the author switched between characters every chapter so you could see the story from all the main characters perspectives. I would recommend this book to someone who likes suspense, adventure, and some mystery.